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Sunday, 26 April 2015

Trevose Head and Valency Valley, Cornwall - 25th April

I arrived at Trevose Head just after 7am this morning and started birding along the road that leads to the beach and bisects part of the golf course. The scrub near where I parked had a singing Common Whitethroat, a Blackbird, a Blackcap and several Dunnocks. There were a few Swallows passing through and Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were displaying overhead. Evidence of migration was again thin on the ground, with a single Wheatear on the golf course and a couple of Sedge Warblers singing from the scrub.

Sedge Warbler - Trevose Head

Sedge Warbler - Trevose Head

There were already several dog walkers on the beach when I reached it, so any migrants present were likely to have been flushed. I had a quick scan out to sea and picked up a few Fulmars, two Manx Shearwaters and a Gannet and then three Whimbrel took off from the beach and headed north calling. I continued to scan the sea, there was very little moving but whilst there another 12 Whimbrel dropped in and landed on the beach. Some birds immediately tried to sleep whilst others began feeding; they started on the beach but were being continuously flushed by dog walkers, eventually heading out over the golf course. Another flock of three dropped in about 20 minutes later but they didn’t stay around for long.

Whimbrel - Trevose Head

Whimbrel - Trevose Head

Migrating Whimbrel - Trevose Head

After breakfast we planned to go to visit relatives in Boscastle, which would give me the chance to pop down for a spot of birding in Valency Valley. Valency Valley has been a regular haunt of mine for many years and no trip to Boscastle is complete without a visit there. I started from the car park end and worked my way up the valley; Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were the most obvious of the migrant species but they were not my intended quarry.

Valency Valley is a guaranteed spot for Dipper and that was what I was really searching for. I worked my way slowly up the river scouring the rocks for birds; there was plenty of evidence, bird droppings on rocks in the river, but initially no sign of one. After about 30 minutes I reached an area where I had previously found a nest and heard a bird calling immediately. The first bird I saw flew strongly past me, but soon returned and began bobbing on a nearby rock.

Adult Dipper Cinclus cinclus gularis

Adult Dipper Cinclus cninclus gularis

When Dippers are this tame, it usually means that they have young nearby, and sure enough, a quick scan downstream produced a recently fledged juvenile. The bird was very approachable and allowed me to get get close enough for some half decent photos. From what I could make out there were two fledgling birds and two adults, I would have expected more fledglings, and there may well have been others tucked away somewhere but I couldn’t find them. I don’t think the fledglings have been out of the nest more than a week and their primaries appeared not to be fully grown and downy feathers were still present. The adults were frantically searching for food to feed their chicks, but they would not come near if I was too close, so I sat back and just watched them from a distance

Fledgling Dipper

Fledgling Dipper - note downy feathers still present

Fledgling Dipper

Fledgling Dipper

I spend a good hour watching the pair feeding their offspring, but decided to head back to the car when the expected heavy rain set in.